Method of creating treating zone for multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles

ABSTRACT

A method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles, specifically, irradiation or enamelling, consisting of a successive curving or bending of an article about the peripheral portions of at least two spaced drums with parallel axes of rotation. The article is conveyed along its longitudinal axis with a simultaneous shift along the axis of at least one of the drums, the longitudinal portions of the article&#39;&#39;s windings which extend between the drums perpendicular to their generants being passed through the points of contact between the drums and the article, and with the shift being effected on that portion of a drum.

United States Shkundin et al.

atent [1 1 METHOD OF CREATING TREATING ZONE FOR MULTISTAGE TREATMENT OF FLEXIBLE LONG-LENGTH ARTICLES [22] Filed: July 3, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 376,208

[52] U.S. Cl 226/4, 226/108, 226/189 [51] Int. Cl B65h 23/22 [58] Field at Search 226/4,l08, 168, 189

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Tatra 226/189 Jan. 14, 1975 Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen [57] ABSTRACT A method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles, specifically, irradiation or enamelling, consisting of a successive curving or bending of an article about the peripheral portions of at least two spaced drums with parallel axes of rotation. The article is conveyed along its longitudinal axis with a simultaneous shift along the axis of at least one of the drums, the longitudinal portions of the articles windings which extend between the drums perpendicular to their generants being passed through the points of contact between the drums and the article, and with the shift being effected on that portion of a drum.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures METHOD OF CREATING TREATING ZONE FOR MULTISTAGE TREATMENT OF FLEXIBLE LONG-LENGTH ARTICLES The present invention relates to a method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles and is intended for use when treating, e.g., cable articles, threads or pipes through the use of magnetic or thermal fields, irradiation, applying protective coatings, and the like.

Known in the art is a method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible longlength articles by way of the sequential curving or bending of an article along the peripheral portions of at least two drums with parallel axes of rotation and with the articles moving along its longitudinal axis with a simultaneous shift along the axes of said drums.

Under this method, the treatment of an article is made in a zone between the drums, whereas its shift takes place along the axes of the drums with the aid of channelling grooves.

A disadvantage of the known method is the limited filling, by an article, of the space within a treatment zone due to the perpendicular arrangement of a flexible long-length article relative to the axes of the drums, and because of an unavoidable gap between the adjoining windings of the ill'llClI-L' When employing the known method for irradiating cable articles having a wide range of diameters, and through a source of ionizing radiation by means of a heavy-current cathode-ray accelerator, the disadvantages involved include a limited utilization of the radiation source (some 2025 percent), fracturing of the article due to strain at the outlet end thereof, damaged insulation in the channelling grooves, irregular radiation intensity of different patches, and losses in operating time due to the necessity of loading the articles onto the drums.

An object of the present invention is to develop a method of creating treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles, which will permit the filling of the space in the treatment zone with an article as completely as possible and thus considerably increase the efficiency of treatment of the articles.

The object of the invention is achieved by providing a method of forming a zone of treatment for flexible drawn articles during a course of multistage treatment by way of successive rounding-off of an article along portions of at least two drums having parallel axes of rotation and with the articles moving along its longitudinal axis with a simultaneous shift along the axes of the drums, and wherein, according to the invention, portions of the windings of the article are arranged between the drums so as to extend perpendicular to their generants passing through the points of touching the drums by the article, and with the shift being made on the portion of at least one of said drums.

The proposed method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles offers the following advantages:

1. increased (1.5 to 3 times) efficiency compared with that of the known method;

2. easy loading (the possibility of changing over from one cross-section of the article to another);

3. elimination of the stretching force which is generally unavoidable in the known method; and

4. the feasibility of automation.

Compared with the known method, the inventive method offers the following advantages, when used for irradiating cable articles:

1. the possibility of irradiating cable articles of different diameters (from 1 to 6 mm), the efficiency of utilization of the radiated energy remaining intact; and

2. improved quality of a treated article, conditioned by the uniform distribution of radiation intensity.

The invention will be more apparent from a detailed description of its exemplary embodiments, reference being bad to the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates, in a plan view, a device for the realization of the inventive method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the article being loaded in a cross-wise manner; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 3 showing the article being loaded in a cross-wise manner.

The method of creating a treating zone'for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length article may be carried out in a device comprising two spaced drums l and 2 (FIG. 1) with the axes of rotation of both drums l and 2 extending parallel to each other. A flexible long-length article 3, e.g., a cable, curves about portions 4 and 5 (FIG. 2) of the drums l and 2, respectively. Formed between the drums l and 2 FIG. I) is a zone 6 for the treatment of an article 3 passing therethrough, such as portions 7 and 8 of the windings of the article 3. The article 3 has an outlet end 9. A stretching force on the article is created by one of the drums. The arrow shows the direction of travel of the article 3.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the same embodiment of the device for carrying out the inventive method, but for ap plied to the case of a cross-wise loading of the flexible long-length article 3.

The method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length article is carried out in the following manner.

As stated hereinabove, the article 3 (FIG. 2) curves about the portions 4 and 5 of the drums l and 2, respectively. With the stretching force being provided by one of the drums, the portions 7 and 8 of the windings pass the zone 6 for treatment in succession, the windings of the article 3 filling the treatment zone 6 to the maximum extent due to the arrangement of the portions 7 and 8 being perpendicular to the generants of the drums l and 2. This is possible as a result of the shift of the windings to a value 7 which is ensured by the construction of the drum 2. For a cross-wise loading of the article 3 (FIG. 3), this shift is ensured by the drums l and 2.

What we claim is:

l. A method of creating a treating zone for the multistage treatment of flexible long-length articles comprising the steps of: successively passing each said article about peripheral portions of at least two drums having parallel axes of rotation so as to form turns of said article; arranging portions of the turns of said article simultaneously between said drums normally to the generating lines of said drums extending through the points of contact between said article and said drums; moving said article along the longitudinal axis thereof; and concurrently shifting the portions of said article in contact with the peripheries of'said drums along the axis of at least one of said drums. 

1. A method of creating a treating zone for the multi-stage treatment of flexible long-length articles comprising the steps of: successively passing each said article about peripheral portions of at least two drums having parallel axes of rotation so as to form turns of said article; arranging portions of the turns of said article simultaneously between said drums normally to the generating lines of said drums extending through the points of contact between said article and said drums; moving said article along the longitudinal axis thereOf; and concurrently shifting the portions of said article in contact with the peripheries of said drums along the axis of at least one of said drums. 